The past six years have been a turbulent period for the Irish economy, with uncertainties surrounding the UK’s exit from the EU quickly followed by the impact of Covid-19. Despite these external shocks, however, Ireland’s economy has performed strongly relative to the rest of Europe, with the country’s technology and pharmaceutical sectors particular bright spots. In addition to continued foreign direct investment, the domestic economy has overperformed expectations in spite of prolonged periods of restrictions, and ambitious targets on climate change are driving the development of new energy infrastructure.
Multinationals remain a major engine of Irish economic growth. Dublin is home to a host of household names in the tech space, including Apple, Google and TikTok, which established a base in the Irish capital in 2021. The presence of these tech giants in Ireland has wide-ranging effects on the Irish economy, with increased demand for Dublin office space and data centre infrastructure two particularly visible trends.
The tech sector is also a prominent focus of M&A activity in Ireland, with 2021 seeing increased activity from international private equity funds in the Irish market. In addition to technology, Ireland’s biopharmaceutical sector has also flourished during the pandemic, and has also played a key role in maintaining economic growth during periods where other sectors were struggling.
While the activity of Ireland’s multinationals attracts the headlines, the Irish economy’s resurgence has been broad-based, explains Owen O’Sullivan, managing partner at William Fry. ‘Ireland’s resurgence reflects both booming exports from the significant number of multinational companies that have chosen to locate in the country, and a strong performance from the domestic economy, with consumer spending sharply up compared with 2020.’ He credits the ability of Ireland to bounce back to its successful vaccine rollout, noting that ‘by mid-December, 76.8% of Ireland’s citizens (and more than 90% of the over 12 population) had received two vaccinations, compared with 67.3% across the EU’. The high level of vaccine take-up in Ireland enabled the country to avoid full-scale lockdowns this winter, with virtually all restrictions on hospitality lifted in late January.
‘There’s huge demand for talent coming from Irish firms, international firms and from multinationals.’
Declan Black, Mason Hayes & Curran
Irish economic growth has also been substantially shaped by the political priorities of the government, particularly climate change and affordable housing. The Irish government’s renewable energy targets have led to substantial investment into wind and solar energy, as well as accompanying upgrades to grid infrastructure. In addition to environmental concerns, the growing demand on the grid from the data centre sector has also been a key issue in this space. Housing has long been a major issue in Irish politics and played a key role in the 2020 election. As a result, the Fine Gael – Fianna Fáil – Green Party coalition government has made increasing the provision of affordable housing a priority. Despite its efforts, Irish house prices continue to rise, with other areas of real estate such as logistics and office space also seeing high levels of activity. The continued dynamism of the real estate sector has produced increased work for legal practices in areas including construction, planning, and real estate transactions.
The growth in the Irish economy has led to 2020 and 2021 being highly successful years for the Irish legal sector, defying pessimistic expectations at the start of the pandemic. In addition to the continued expansion of the country’s domestic law firms, international firms are increasingly moving into Dublin in recognition of the key role Ireland plays as an English-speaking, common-law country within the EU. Dentons opened an office in the capital in September 2020 and was followed by Ashurst and Hogan Lovells in early 2021; these firms joined DLA Piper, Simmons & Simmons, and Pinsent Masons, all of whom have moved into Ireland since 2016. These moves, along with the growth of multinationals in Dublin and the general increased demand for legal services, have exacerbated competition for Irish legal talent. ‘There’s huge demand for talent coming from Irish firms, international firms and from multinationals,’ notes Declan Black, managing partner at Mason Hayes & Curran. ‘That’s leading to very significant increases in remuneration which in turn will lead to rate increases.’
Two years on from the beginning of the pandemic, the fact that one of the biggest challenges facing Irish law firms is recruiting enough lawyers to meet demand demonstrates the extent to which Ireland has defied the gloomy predictions made at the start of the crisis. In addition to the surprising resilience of Ireland’s domestic economy, this success has been underpinned by the presence in Ireland of prominent multinationals from sectors which have flourished during the pandemic. The expansion of Ireland’s international legal sector only serves to further illustrate the crucial role the country’s links to the EU and the wider world play in its economic strength. LB
| Rank (by L500 ranking) | Firm | Region | Total lawyers | Total partners | Promotions | Offices | Partner hires |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | Matheson | Ireland | 440 | 97 | 8 | 6 | 3 |
| 40 | A&L Goodbody | Ireland | 406 | 112 | 5 | 6 | 2 |
| 41 | McCann FitzGerald | Ireland | 365 | 80 | 6 | 4 | |
| 42 | Arthur Cox | Ireland | 335 | 100 | 6 | 5 | 1 |
| 44 | William Fry | Ireland | 315 | 78 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
| 51 | Mason Hayes & Curran | Ireland | 375 | 95 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| 75 | ByrneWallace | Ireland | 150 | 50 | 8 | 2 | 1 |
| 94 | Dillon Eustace | Ireland | 90 | 44 | 1 | 4 |